Tinglewood

Added to the lineup for the Screamfest Horror Film Festival Tinglewood is a 17 minute horror effort that left me surprised and wanting more.

It tells the story of a family who go camping only to fall foul of mysterious creatures living in the darkness.

The sfx are hit and miss, namely when things are shrouded in darkness they look great but when the light is put upon them the lack of budget shows.

The trouble with short films is the ability to tell a story in the limited time and Tinglewood manages that having a decent beginning, middle and an end. Alas it does have an odd side story that feels entirely pointless and doesn't go anywhere. It shouldn't really have damaged the film much but in my eyes it did, it just seemed like such a bizzare addition.

Regardless Tinglewood is a damn fine effort even if it's not overly original.

The Good:

Looks great

Well constructed

The Bad:

SFX suffer in the light

Pointless side story

Things I Learnt From This Short:

The fact the kid went the way of the beetle made me happy

Hide & seek is an essential life skill

...for the science to be more than ordinary mix of screamings, dark, monsters. For the subtle performances of young actors. For the message and beautiful definition of brotherhood and self sacrifice . For the cinematography and tension and the ball of emotions. And for the final state after the end of it. Admirable work.

As the founder/director of Horror UK, we showed this at our film festival last year and have shown it at our other film festivals.

It is one of the best short films we have had nominated to us and has everything you would hope for. Great acting, great suspense and great production values. At one point (let me just say the fire), it did actually make me scream out like a little girl! This is a film that you should definitely check out.

I gave this a 9 and not a 10 because I never give a 10, no film is perfect.

I don't understand the low rating this has (at the time of writing 3.8), particularly as 70% of those voting gave it a 9 or 10.